


Motion Blur

by Coyotebee



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Near Future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-08
Updated: 2013-05-08
Packaged: 2017-12-10 18:07:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/788599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Coyotebee/pseuds/Coyotebee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall is an amateur photographer and has been taking pictures of the band's shenanigans over the years. During a morning drive, he thinks about the story behind the pictures he's taken of Harry and Louis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Motion Blur

**Author's Note:**

  * For [roaroftheninth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/roaroftheninth/gifts).



> It was my friend (who this is gifted to) who had the idea of photographer!Niall. So I ran with it, and here it is as sickeningly sweet Larry love story.

Niall drives along the curve smooth and slow, very aware of the camera equipment on the floor of the backseat. He didn’t want it knocked about.

Before he auditioned for the X-Factor, photography was a couple hundred universes away from Niall. Music and sports were his thing, and then suddenly cameras were surrounding him at all times. At his first couple photoshoots, he asked if he could try out the camera and they let him. Soon after, he bought a Canon camera for himself. (“Great for beginners,” the photographer said.)

The road straightens out and to his right, the landscape lowers, letting him see acres and acres of green field, hedges dividing them into unequal crooked squares. Way off to the north, there’s a heavy batch of trees and a church steeple pokes through them. Typical English countryside. Exactly how Americans would envision it.

Niall pulls over. It’s early morning – there are long shadows lying themselves down in those fields. Because of that, he has to take a picture. The contrast would look great.

He snaps a few shots. Before getting back in his car, he checks them on the LCD screen. Like he hoped, the settings he chose made the colours vibrant, the shadows deep, and the contours of the trees sharp and emerald.

It’s refreshing to photograph something natural. For years, he’d been snapping shots of man-made things – skyscrapers, aeroplanes, concert lights, transport, motorways, and tramlines. A lot of people too. There must have been hundreds of his bandmates.

Interviewers like asking him about it, what he enjoys about photography. His answer eventually followed a script, he was asked so many times:

“It’s kind of like a journal for me. We travel so much and it’s hard to remember where you’ve been and when. Pictures keep track of it. It’s nice to go through them and be like, ‘Oh yeah, I went there. Completely forgot I went to the Grand Canyon.’”

(He usually has to tag on an “I’m kidding.” It’s rare that a journalist knows he’s not serious about that last bit.)

Niall keeps driving. No rush. As he goes, he thinks about his stacks of photographs, all arranged by date. He loves that there are stories in there. Shows his grandfather overcoming cancer, the steady accumulation of tattoos on Zayn’s arm, and the construction of his house in Ireland. The sweetest series of photographs though, hands down, are of Harry and Louis.

***

“Fuck.”

“Fook!” Louis said mockingly.

Niall had been trying to get the lens to click onto his Canon for what felt like a half hour. Louis and Harry, snug against each other on the couch, whispered and smiled at each other, possibly conspiring against him.

They had asked him to take a picture of them, a proper “We Are Best Mates and This Is Our New Flat” picture.

The lens finally snapped itself in, and Niall aimed the camera at them, pulling in on their faces.

He snapped one, then Louis exclaimed, “No! We weren’t ready! Count it down, Niall.”

“Count it down like it’s a soooong,” Harry said quietly.

“Fine. On three,” Niall said. “One. Two. _Three._ ”

Through the viewfinder, Niall saw Louis and Harry press right into each other and kiss, lightning-quick.

“W-what was _that?_ ” Niall asked.

Harry laughed. Laughed into Louis’ neck. Louis just peered at Niall, very smug about it all.

***

The photograph is a technical failure. The subjects (Harry and Louis) are off-centre, not even in an artistic avant-garde way, and Louis’ face is a blur. Still, underneath the haze of it, you can see the outline of Louis’ profile, his mouth puckered on Harry’s lips. Harry is mid-smile. They look so pleased that the blurriness and awkward composition doesn’t matter.

Looking back on it, Niall doesn’t know why he was that shocked about the kiss. Him, Zayn, and Liam could see it coming, ever since the week at the bungalow. Louis was constantly cozying up to Harry, petting his hair. When the five of them pushed a few mattresses together on the floor, Niall took the one beside Harry. He got up to get some crisps, then Louis was there, refusing to get up. That night, they had all gone quiet except for Harry and Louis, who kept whispering to each other.

“Will you two shut up?” Zayn mumbled somewhere from the mass of blankets.

There’s loads of photographs of them in the months after that, neatly filed into the box labelled “2011.”

One photo is of Harry and Louis sleeping on a hotel bed. Niall was about to pounce on them to wake them up for morning interviews, then refrained because they looked damn funny. Couples sleeping were supposed to look cute and Louis and Harry definitely weren’t -- their mouths hung open, Harry’s saliva dribbled onto the bedsheet, and a chunk of Louis’ hair was sticking up at a perfect perpendicular angle from his head.

Niall’s favourite from this period (Liam’s too) is a photo taken unintentionally. It was their very first show of their headlining tour, and Niall had been taking pictures in the moments before they were supposed to go on stage. It had a way of calming him down.

“You’re on!” a member of their crew declared. She had her hand around Niall’s camera strap, urging him to take it off. The boys were ahead of him, climbing up the steps to the stage.

He slid the camera and the strap off his neck and in the process, heard a faint click.

After the show, he looked at what he had captured, and he saw that the accidental picture was of Zayn and Liam on those stairs. At the very edge of the frame, quite small, were the silhouettes of Harry and Louis against the bright blue lighting of the stage. Their hands were clasped together.

***

Another tricky curve comes up and Niall once again slows his car down and carefully turns the steering wheel. The road starts to go downhill.

2012 takes up two shoe boxes on Niall’s shelf. Most of them are private, but some of them millions of girls have seen. He started posting them online. He liked putting up the actual good ones, like the ones of city lights, but he liked putting up the ones of his goofy-faced bandmates more. For a laugh, always for a laugh.

Unleashed into cyberspace is a picture of Louis on the toilet -- it was his fault for being so comfortable with the band, that he didn’t bother closing the door. Another thrown out there to be ravaged is of Zayn with rollers in his quiff, looking dead serious about the process.

He posted a few of the pictures he had of Harry and Louis as well. They had a tendency to get into more coupley poses if he was the one handling the camera, knowing he probably wasn’t going to show these to anyone.

Niall probably has about ten photographs of Harry kissing Louis’ cheek, and Louis has a variety of facial reactions in them – shock, disgust, contentment, sadness, etc. In January 2013, he chose the funniest one of these – the one where Louis’ face is goofily content – and posted it online.

Fifteen minutes later, he noticed someone from management removed it.

***

Next day. Lunch. Niall wolfed down a sandwich. A drop of mayonnaise got onto the hotel room’s table.

Someone knocked on the door.

“Niall, it’s Paul. Gotta talk to you for a second.”

Niall opened up the door for him and raised an eyebrow.

“What’s this about?” Niall asked. He had a hunch.

“The schedule. We switched it around. Your television interview has been pushed back to 2 p.m. because security needs some time to move the crowd away from the exit.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Sit down. One more thing,” Paul said and sat on an armchair. This meant business. Niall returned to the table.

“Did you notice we took down that picture you posted last night?” Paul asked.

“Yes,” Niall said.

“Okay, like we said in the meetings, you can post as many photographs as you want. They’re great, the fans are really into them, and it goes with the fun-loving image you boys have,” Paul said then leaned in. “But we had to take down the one of Harry and Louis because it’s suggestive, you know? For the past six months, we’ve been trying to tone down on their interactions, keep as much of it out of the media as possible. You know that.”

“Right...” Niall said without looking at him.

“In an ideal world, it wouldn’t matter that you posted it, but unfortunately, it does matter. I don’t like it, you don’t like it, none of us on the management team like it, but it’s what we gotta deal with.”

“I didn’t do it on purpose, going against it. I just thought the picture was funny,” Niall said with a shrug.

“Think it through more, all right? Check with us from now on, before posting any pictures of the band. That’s all. You have fifteen minutes left for lunch. Be quick.”

***

Niall may have been discouraged from posting as often, but he took as much pictures of Harry and Louis and everyone else afterward, just kept them to himself for the most part. 2013 is a box and a half’s worth of stuff. He got himself three new lenses that year, so the photographs are particularly dynamic.

One photograph among them is related to Harry and Louis, but it’s hard to understand without the context. It’s a close-up of Harry’s hand. You can see the lines on his knuckles, it’s that close. The focus though, is on the promise ring around his finger.

The ring was actually one year old by the time Niall got a shot of it. He just didn’t ever think of taking a picture of it until then, when Harry and Louis had been going out for two years.

Niall switches on the radio in his car. It plays some new pop act, one Niall knows Paul is now managing. Niall would rather not have that reminder of him, not on this day, this bright morning drive through the countryside. Happens anyway --

He and the boys were at management’s main office, in a giant boardroom. Paul was there, as well as numerous other staff members. They were halfway through the meeting, and Niall’s photography was the next item on the agenda.

“So for this upcoming tour, Niall, we’re asking if you will allow a photographer on our team to post some of their photographs on your account,” Paul said.

“What, why?”

“Well, it’s to manage the content a bit. Your photography is amazing, Niall, don’t get me wrong. But we’d like to really use it as a tool to apply the band’s new gritty image.”

“Well... what would you post?”

“We’ve got a portfolio here,” Paul said and someone slides a folder over to him. “These won’t all be posted. They’re to show you the overall concept of what we’re going for. They’re done by Frederick Neers.”

Niall flipped through them. Harry, right beside him, leaned in for a peek as well. They were definitely in Niall’s style, lots of colours and contrast, just the subject matter is off – it features scowling boys in leather, dark dirty city streets, neon lights, and grubby corners of pubs.

“I dunno...” Niall said and looked to the boys. Louis’ lips were pursed. Zayn was unreadable, and Liam looked inquisitive.

“Couldn’t you post these on our official site instead?” Harry asked.

“No, hardly anyone goes there for anything but your tour schedule. Niall’s account is the best way to present these,” Paul said.

“I... yeah, okay. So long as I still get to post my own real stuff.”

“Of course,” Paul said. “The fans love your photography.”

***

Niall shakes his head slightly, shakes his head at his young naive self from two years ago. He didn’t know though. How can you resent yourself for lack of experience? The band rarely opposed anything the management suggested at that point. Management’s choices always seemed like they were best for the band, so it seemed stupid to disagree if disagreeing meant less success.

***

Niall logged onto his account, and saw that hours before, Neers posted one of his own photographs. It was of Harry and that new folk singer Jade, arms locked around each other. Harry’s acting had approved significantly since Taylor. That smile looked real.

Niall didn’t know how Harry and Louis were able to keep it together this whole time. The Eleanor thing was bad enough, really put them on the edge when Louis had to walk into a jewellery store and shop for an engagement ring. Fortunately, the whole plan was to end it tragically – Eleanor supposedly broke up with him a month before their wedding. The press was amazing and their album sales got a boost.

***

Niall notices that the road he’s driving on is no longer paved. The trees start lining the sides. 

Niall has one picture of Jade, somewhere deep among the 2014 box. There’s still plenty of Harry and Louis shots in there. The fans have seen none of them though.

They’re all black and white. Niall went through a phase at the time. Harry and Louis in them are as sweet and silly as before. Niall angled himself just right to capture them squished into the coffin-like tourbus bunk. Those spaces were so small, Niall is fairly sure his photo was evidence of the laws of physics being defied.

His favourite from that year was actually one that Zayn took. It was from a cozy Christmas party at Niall’s, and Zayn must have stepped outside with Harry and Louis toward the end of the night when Niall had passed out. It shows Harry and Louis dancing with each other in his driveway. Harry’s knees are buckled a bit in order to rest his head on Louis’ shoulder. He’s got a foolish grin on, and his eyes are closed. 

It’s hilarious when Niall flips to through his 2010 collection and sees that Harry and Louis were the same height once upon a time.

Something in the backseat thumps. Niall immediately turns his head to check. It was only the top of his tripod hitting the passenger’s seat.

***

It was five months ago, on a day off from touring their fourth album, that Niall invited Harry and Louis to his place for dinner. Harry looked flustered when they came in.

“A pap saw us getting into the car at our house then followed us here,” Louis said and sighed. He rubbed Harry’s back.

“It’ll cool off,” Niall said. “It’s only been a month since you two came out.”

“Yeah. So what are you cooking for us?” Harry said brightly.

“I ordered pizza!”

“Niall, _really?_ ” Louis said. “When you ask someone over for dinner, it implies you are going to serve a proper meal, you know.”

“How long have you known me for, Louis?” Niall said. “Five years. That’s how long.”

“So it’s your fault for expecting anything more, is what Niall’s saying,” Harry said to Louis. “I’m personally very excited for this pizza. I’m sure it took great skill to dial that number to order it.”

They sat down at the dining room table. Talked about whatever, then Louis took notice of all the photographs on the walls.

“That was... were we there with you when you took that one?” Louis said, pointing to a concert shot. It was just of a microphone stand in it, smoke all around.

“No, that was at Ed’s concert in Belfast.”

“How much do you charge for taking pictures at events like that?”

“Charge? Clearly I’ve made no money in the past few years in our band, so I make people pay five-hundred for my services.”

“Seriously, an estimate.”

“I would never charge anything. Especially if I’m taking photos of a friend.”

“Well, I need to know. You deserve to be paid for taking photos at the wedding.”

“What?” Niall asked, but he immediately knew what Louis must be referring to.

“The wedding,” Harry said.

“Whose wedding?!”

Louis leaned over and grasped Harry’s hand with both of his. Harry smiled at him, bowing his head a little like he was shy of showing how happy he was, or maybe he was trying to share the smile with Louis only. Louis reached out to cup his chin and kissed him.

***

Right on time, Niall rolls his car into the driveway of the Tomlinson’s country home. He sees that Gemma’s car is already there, as well as Johannah’s.

The boys are all hanging out on the front step. Liam and Zayn are dressed, but Harry and Louis are in their pyjamas.

Before going to the house, Niall digs into his bags and gets his camera out and a lens. Then he walks over to them and before they get to greet him with violent hugs, he holds up his camera.

“Group picture! Of all five of us in it!” he says. Harry immediately dips inside the house to find someone to take the shot.

“Can’t you wait until we’re all in our suits?” Louis says. “Me and Harry aren’t even dressed!”

“Nope, not happening, future Mr. Styles.”

“First of all - I’m keeping my name. Secondly – I’m a mess!”

“I like looking at mess!” Harry shouts from an open window.

“Awwwww,” Zayn says. “Sop, sop, sop.”

“It’s Louis’ and Harry’s _wedding day_. They are allowed to be soppy!” Liam says, clapping a hand on Zayn’s shoulder.

“We are also allowed to be well-dressed in photographs,” Louis says pointedly to Niall.

“Aw, please, Louis? I want a real photo of us, just like this, no fancy suits on. You barely ever see pictures of the couple, fresh out of bed, morning of their wedding. Usually they don’t see each other the whole day until they’re walking down the aisle. This is progressive!”

“I’m marrying a man! I’ve already got progressive covered, just so you know,” Louis says.

“Come on. There’ll be plenty of pictures of us suited up,” Liam said.

Louis taps his foot. “True. Okay. Fine.”

Harry comes back out with Gemma. Niall shows her how to focus the picture and click. While he does, he notices Harry and Louis whispering to each other.

The boys neatly arrange themselves on the steps with Harry and Louis standing in the middle. At the last second before Gemma’s finger presses down on the camera button, Harry and Louis jump up and scream.

Harry and Louis will definitely be blurs in that one, and Niall will think it’s a great photo anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> (Secretly hoping someone will one day catch the Radiohead lyric in here.)


End file.
